Random Treat Thank You

snow snow snow

I know

say ashrei with me

god's glow

light and faraway fire

reminding

morning noon and night

I shall return

please wait quietly

a jaunty jolt

the very air

fine pink

woody shots of rosemary

and lantana

now clean of fallen leaves

my name on a street sign

for the first time

since childhood

you may not think I'm pretty

say ashrei with me

we've just to try on

not a bad mind either

comes of light in the distance

humility just realized

oddment

tweak

thank you

like this

manners taught by example

I'm half and half

there's so much to learn

curing an environment

onto the page

a ribbon twisted into words

and away we go

ubiquitous

Status 2009

contemplating new directions
and strategies for my life
a great yoga class
today
sick of war and killing and assault
particularly in tune with the synergy
in my life no longer employed
as a teacher
just hopeful
simultaneously idling and noodling
eating toast
deserves a treat hunkering down
meditate this morning
starting to think focus
on remaining uplifted in my life
immersed in daily practices received
three pink and red birthday bouquets
rhyme time subconscious mind
preparing for the Queen
optimistically overwhelmed juggling
battery operated rain one or two hours a week
phone calls money bickering tools
and always chocolate love
shooby doo wop doo wah
loves the smell of damp chapparal
feeling productive, joyful and blessed
lost a gorgeous essential tree
in memory we've named it
in my life
loves

A Poem by Marge Piercy

in memory of Yona Kollin

Kaddish

Look around us, search above us, below, behind.
We stand in a great web of being joined together.
Let us praise, let us love the life we are lent
passing through us in the body of Israel
and our own bodies, let's say amen.

Time flows through us like water.
The past and the dead speak through us.
We breathe out our children's children, blessing.

Blessed is the earth from which we grow,
Blessed the life we are lent,
blessed the ones who teach us,
blessed the ones we teach,
blessed is the word that cannot say the glory
that shines through us and remains to shine
flowing past distant suns on the way to forever.
Let's say amen.

Blessed is light, blessed is darkness,
but blessed above all else is peace
which bears the fruits of knowledge
on strong branches, let's say amen.

Peace that bears joy into the world,
peace that enables love, peace over Israel
everywhere, blessed and holy is peace, let's say amen.

4 Mile Shuffle

Outside & Inside
(Only) Halfway to Everywhere

Mezzanine
Indian Summer Sky

Hey Hey My My
Yours

For Allen Ginsberg

whacked out by vision through horn rims
driven by a lust for life and men and justice and aim and ohm
pervert hero, you masturbated publicly hiding your hand under your poetry

an American poet, the grimy sublime of being
sexy tripping along the boardwalk of the world
naked high and free as the ruby sun

I think of you as I watch pigeons mating in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty and ripe young suits have a game of catch through the lunch hour
I think of you when my poems get noticed for their naughty words
I think of you when I capitalize myself

The Human Condition

like a pine cone
landing with a dull thud
destined to become so much brown mulch

knocking loose some fertile kernel
which may take root and become
a masterpiece

look up
through the dry needles
the innocent waste of age

see the symmetry of sky
and trees and sounds of birds
and the sun hiding in the little forest

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Why I Am A Pacifist

The parents of my parent's parents
made their way to where
I would not know
from hunger pangs, pogroms,
a fate cast in fire

Their memories are for blessing

They cracked the yoke
of violence born
of fear and lack
so that I might bear only
what weight I choose. And I do,
carrying hope and my blood's memory
of slavery and sacrifice
like shiny epaulets, dangling
from my clean, grateful shoulders.

The streets I walk are golden,
I am more at ease
than even in their dreams.
I see this sacred world
not through their bloodshot eyes
and for this
to bless them for this blessing
daring to imagine
and for my children's children
I am a pacifist.

Eaton Canyon Psalm

two logs of perfect complement
balance between two rocks
over raucous waters

ever watchful
of the watch
layers of listening

to whom rushing reeds, canyon quarry
to whom glowing hoary hills
just beyond unseen snow

to you of course
to all of you
to your unusualness

what else can one offer a wedged log in need
save prayer
each end, a celebration

in the next world
there will be time
to tell of all you've seen so far

Remembrance

an abundance of wine
a small bag of avocados
and parentheses

my gifts are wrapped and ready
in this love poem to my soul
on this night of six million deaths

today is a gift
that's why it's called the present
if this is correct, press one

Holy Holy Holy

balanced and complete
freedom and safety
calm and ecstatic

grant that I understand and be understood

confident that you get my meaning
even better than myself

in the ongoing unconscious dialogue
mother and mentor
missing and known

not empirical truth
nor many truths
nor many versions of the truth

truth is multidimensional
all and more
unknowable

each citizen a translation of the founding word
each society a document in humanity's holy canon

fear is in your head
so forget your head
and you'll be free

feel your power
suppress tendency to fantasize
that the good stuff is out of reach

Yom Kippur Haiku

the flag that waves, the leaves that whirl
speak the who each we should be
despite passing squawks or sirens

Missive

after A.S. Byatt


on my safe stool
to lifeless dust
no lightening struck

burned and utterly
small light
peace of my beloved

like straw on a dry day
and a deal
that holds its shape

and infintesimal moment
random speaks
threatened solitude

I read your mind
but I say
this has extended from the clearing

as unknown others
proceed apace
and forgive me

Each Learning

for Martha & Andy

Marriage and Torah --
the essence remains
week after week, year

after year. Sometimes
in song, sometimes on page
or parchment, or at tables laden

with bread and guests,
we pass through a cycle
of again revealing

what is yet to be
learned. Earth is born
each time Adam

and Eve eat together;
Rachel and Jacob, in love,
suffer and redeem;

longing and ecstasy
read fresh, at a new
time, a new table.

Love, I am reborn
each day you love me,
receiving discovery
each year of learning you.

Sincere Cliches for Elul

you and I, God
are one in the same
and complete strangers

soulmates and magnets repelling
a chromosome of spirit separates
an everblooming seed

eternally and simultaneously
potential and completion
accompanied and alone

you and I, God
need each other
to recognize ourselves

23 Headlines and a Cartoon Bubble

hoping this new rush pans out
US fights the clock
easier said than done

tax idea gaining weight
art hits new heights
is latest curse to check in

a gift and how
we might pay for it
in the gun-selling business

justices weigh major shift
stir up rough seas
attack killer rapist

mired in fear
yes, in theory
a record of safety worries

voters' fingers cut off
secret burials reported
chief slams release

militant lays down arms
shifts tactics
would-be assassin is freed

network fears crackdown
poisoning sparks investigation
okay, pull the plug

Spirit Lust

(from the collection Wanton Psalms)

I only want to

rub my heart

and rifle through your cards

catch your eyes

in action

slightly more expansive

I seek your face

everywhere

avoiding too loud

in the hope

of hearing your silence

my unrequited spirit lust

searches for a long pause

is that the problem

is my vacuous desire

my human ache

showing too plainly

a sting brings back the purpose

chaos vision

eloquence astounds

meaningless and all that's true

the wonder of how to

embody

a beautiful Hadith

from the collected oral tradition of Islam, this teaching highlights religious commonality:

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "For the Jews (the day designated by God for communal prayer) was Saturday, and for the Christians it was Sunday. And God turned toward us (Muslims) and guided us to Friday (as the day of communal prayer). In fact, (God) made Friday, Saturday and Sunday (as days of prayer)."

Sahih Muslim, Hadith 417

An Elul Poem

Back to Work

there I think

of your known elements

and how we will soon begin again--

words unnecessarily split

from meaning and sweet sound

amuse but require

all elements to move--

needs the unseen

unfelt touch

to loose the chord--

your vellum face

over my environment

fades but my eyes

will not forget

nor unfog

I feel and not feel

see and not see

you and not you

--my methods

means and devices

are primitive and paltry

my intention in contrast

shift the mother angle

toward the beloved

with me--I will--

move the elements

I can touch

we will soon begin again